The Dominic Cummings file

[two sheds]

Totally fair, Maitlis criticizes Cummings = bias, Kuenssberg defends Cummings (and the rest of the government) = impartial. Obvious, obviously.

 

[killer b]

I can't work out if you're just the most stupid person on urban, or the most stupid person alive Dexter. Definitely leaning towards the second.

 

[two sheds]

I can't work out if you're just the most stupid person on urban, or the most stupid person alive Dex. Definitely leaning towards the second.

Ta

 

[killer b]

Ta

not you!

 

[Treacle Toes]

Editor of Newsnight has skewered herself on Twitter....

 

[two sheds]

not you!

I know

I'm quite aware I'm only the third most stupid

 

[DexterTCN]

I can't work out if you're just the most stupid person on urban, or the most stupid person alive Dexter. Definitely leaning towards the second.

I suppose...if you've been amongst a bunch of people who have been mouthy about massive social and economic change for a long time...you just weren't expecting them to hide under their covers and revert to talking about shite from the 1980s as justification during the biggest thing in the world.

As I said, they're all over

Every other person in the world knows that sexism is absolutely fuck all to do with this...and fucking listen to you. Embarrassing...drowning fantasists clutching to imaginary lifebelts.

 

[bimble]

I suppose...if you've been amongst a bunch of people who have been mouthy about massive social and economic change for a long time...you just weren't expecting them to hide under their covers and revert to talking about shite from the 1980s as justification during the biggest thing in the world.

As I said, they're all over

what are you talking about?

 

[killer b]

Misogyny is a thing from... the 80s?

 

[two sheds]

Editor of Newsnight has skewered herself on Twitter....

So Esme Wren says "I am the Editor of Newsnight @carolecadwalla & I am responsible for the output of the programme.
@maitlis hasn’t been replaced tonight in response to the BBC statement. @katierazz is part of the team and we work as a team throughout."

I don't understand - is she saying they've all been replaced for the night?

 

[Marty1]

Add Kay Burley to people I find myself strangely agreeing with.

Im more amazed Gove is still doing TV interviews - as - as he’s proved, he’s got nothing to say.

 

[brogdale]

CW Steve on a roll...

 

[agricola]

That Kuenssberg decision is crazy - the BBC claim she was accurately reporting what a source said, but at no point has she ever acknowledged that the source was wrong about almost everything:



Cummings was very clear afterwards that he didn't stay with his parents, he wasn't ill when he went up there (though his wife was) and the parents did not help with childcare.

 

[DaveCinzano]

From ‘poorly polishing a turd’ to ‘a lesson in self preservation’ - PR chiefs react to Cummings press conference

From ‘poorly polishing a turd’ to ‘a lesson in self preservation’ - PR chiefs react to Cummings press conference. From PR Week

www.prweek.com

Some great stuff here...

Today’s conference was a poor attempt at polishing a turd. They made him wear a shirt (nice try), allowed him to read his statement (as he’s shy) and ensured he arrived a couple of minutes late, but immediately apologised (poor bloke’s had a busy day). The whole routine was a carefully choreographed but poorly executed farce. The first law of holes: "if you find yourself in one, stop digging".
Hannah Patel, EMEA director, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

It sounded like when I got caught by my mum bunking off school; a long rambling layer of lies. However, at least even at 15, I knew to start with an apology. How did someone review his speech and say, “go get ‘em tiger”.
Roxy Kalha, managing director, The Romans

Whoever wrote the Cummings speech needs to look for a new job. It was clearly designed to confuse and obfuscate and in that regard, it did its job, but it prompted more questions than answers. At no stage did Cummings show any understanding of the situation, nor empathy or regret for the outrage his actions have provoked.
David Alexander, managing director, Calacus

Mr Cummings did enough – that is: add emotion, add complexity and muddy the water just enough for the public to question their rage and the newscycle to move on… his performance shouldn’t be viewed through the lens of a politician; he’s not looking to be popular or hold on to a seat. It was all about self preservation and it was expertly done.
Shane O’Donoghue, director, Nelson Bostock Unlimited

The first rule of crisis communications is keep it factual and keep it brief. Dominic decided to keep it factual but with seemingly an hour-by-hour account of his activities over the last five weeks, he has opened himself up to greater scrutiny. The more he talked, the more he seemed to contradict himself. On one hand here’s a full account of my activity, on the other he was too busy to recall details of conversations. Either it’s a full account or it isn’t.
Tricia Fox, chief executive, Volpa

Cummings' previously unwarranted reputation as some kind of svengali lies in tatters. Anyone who before today proclaimed him the possessor of some psychological affinity with the British public had been made to look foolish. Cummings' smarts have been revealed to be nothing more than the proverbial smoke and mirrors. Worse, the smoke is acrid and the mirror is scratched beyond repair.
Stuart Lambert, co-founder, Blurred

What we all need to remember is that many thousands of people have lost loved ones and in the most tragic and difficult circumstances. It is through their eyes that we need to assess what is done. Those leading at a time of crisis need to ask 'what would those affected think' before they act.
Amanda Coleman, crisis communications consultant, Amanda Coleman Communications

Once the core fact that he travelled across the country, because he thought he might get ill, was established - the rest of the detail is largely irrelevant. By making that interpretation of the rules, he has jeopardised the public’s faith in the Government's coronavirus instructions. Whether Cummings believes that is a proportional response by the people is also irrelevant...for the word 'sorry' to be missing from his much rehearsed statement is nothing short of remarkable. It was the only solution, from a comms perspective, available to him – as the only objective was surely to reverse the damage done to public sentiment.”
George Baggaley, UK&I communications lead, HP

With breathtaking arrogance, he kept journalists - and millions of viewers - waiting for over half an hour. When it came, his statement was long-winded and over-detailed, yet still didn’t clear everything up. It created as many questions as answers.
Ginny Paton, managing partner, Iris Worldwide

Cummings’ performance was great TV. But it lacked the contrition that could have started to help draw a line under this for the Government. Everyone is affected by lockdown, and almost everyone is abiding by the rules. Cummings’ performance – starting 30 minutes late, blaming ‘false’ media stories and his tetchy responses to questions – will have done little to dispel the anger many will feel.
Ben Lowndes, director of South West, Social Communications

If Cummings is still in place in two weeks it will have worked. However, if the clamour for him to go reaches a crescendo and forces him out, it will be because of what was omitted from today, not what was included. I personally believe it raised a number of questions, rather than answered them, and that is the biggest communication failure here today.
Tim Downs, director, Aberfield

Cummings must have summoned all his strength and might not to use that 5-letter word 'SORRY', and media certainly opened the door on numerous occasions. As soon as he did, it would have been an acceptance he did something wrong - which is in direct conflict with his whole strategy of claiming he behaved reasonably, and legally.
Lewis Davey, founder, Idea Farm

There are holes in the Barnard Castle round trip eye test story that will not be put to bed by journalists. Cummings has gone for an, “elite vs the people” message until now and mistrust of the “MSM”. Now he is inviting the MSM to explain why he is in fact exceptional and thanks to his parents’ multi-buildings house with lots of private land including a wood - he could self-isolate 260 miles away from his main residence in case the parents got so ill they couldn’t look after their child. Journalists cross-checking this account against his wife’s article in the Spectator about their lockdown will not be satisfied.
Siobhan Lipnicki, director, Buzz Lead Media

I think it's safe to say that this has been an utter PR disaster since the news broke that Cummings had broken lockdown rules to travel over 200 miles. I think the best course of action given the time would have been to apologise for his flouting of the rules and then to go on to explain the reasoning behind his actions. This would have sat much better with the UK public than just denying any wrongdoing and help keep his reputation intact.
Will Hobson, director, Rise at Seven

From a PR perspective, this conference dictates the end of Cummings as a "dark side lord" of political communication, as Steve Bannon, David Axelrod, Karl Rove, Alastair Campbell or James Carville have already been, to name a few. From a technical point of view, the press conference was a real disaster, violating all the rules that Cummings knows so well. The most important of them all was not having the ability to interpret the public opinion and not having realized that from the moment he decided to hold a press conference there could be only one thing to do: to apologize and relieve pressure on his leader.
Alexandre Guerra, press officer, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa

If Cummings survives, this time they really will seem to have created a double standard - we can still expect ministers and MPs to lead the charge against any private company, charity or public figure behaving in a similar way. The difference now is that they plainly don’t expect to be held accountable themselves. One other lesson is that, for all the dire warnings about a decline in the quality of journalism in this country - and suggestions that the public are losing trust in the mainstream media - this whole affair reminds everyone that reports of its demise are greatly exaggerated.
Tim Toulmin, managing director, crisis communications specialists Alder

 

[DexterTCN]

That Kuenssberg decision is crazy - the BBC claim she was accurately reporting what a source said, but at no point has she ever acknowledged that the source was wrong about almost everything:



Cummings was very clear afterwards that he didn't stay with his parents, he wasn't ill when he went up there (though his wife was) and the parents did not help with childcare.

Yup that was when all this shit started...when he wasn't trending and should have been.

At this stage...I mean everyone has always been expendable with them. Wtf is actually going on because this is nuts. It's never happened in the UK, has it?

Worst leader in history with the worst advisor in history at the worst time in history. sigh

 

[frogwoman]

The last time a prime minister appeared before the committee was 12 months ago, Sir Bernard Jenkin, the committee chairman, said.

Can you, prime minister, commit to attending regularly this and again before summer recess?

Boris Johnson asks if he can get back to him on that as “there is a lot on at the moment” and his time is scarce.

What's he got on at the moment then?! Nothing as far as I can tell. Unless he's planning to spend a weekend up at the castle too.

 

[frogwoman]

Imagine if I used that excuse at work.

 

[two sheds]

From that lawyer up front he's clearly just done a witness statement he could try to use in court. I presume he's not said Sorry because it's a sort of admission of fault in law?

And Maitlis should clearly have used the Kuenssberg formula "Sources said ..."

 

[phillm]

CW Steve on a roll...

View attachment 215030

Brilliant stuff where are these from ?

 

[Wilf]

Not anymore than I'm saying Patel is an evil tory because she's a woman, nope. Or cummings is evil because he's a man. It's nothing to do with this.

What I'm saying is that trying to bring misogyny into this narrative can only come from someone who either doesn't understand the concept of what is going on or whose intent is to disrupt the actual narrative, and they should be considered a bad actor either through stupidity or intent

There's loads of them about.

There's only one narrative here and it's the best urban will ever get...a perfect example of one set of people living by a different set of rules, and the whole country ready to get up in arms about it...and it's a huge chance to fucking stamp on them. So fuck any sidetracking, alright?

Yeah, he's a real shit that Dominic Cummings, desperate to weave a story together that's stuffed to the seams with inconsistency, evasion and misrepresentation. Kind of reminds me of someone...

 

[brogdale]

Brilliant stuff where are these from ?

Cold War Steve (@Coldwar_Steve) on Twitter

mobile.twitter.com

 

[phillm]

Cold War Steve (@Coldwar_Steve) on Twitter

mobile.twitter.com

Ta muchly.

 

[two sheds]

If that was effectively Cummings' witness statement, Johnson will presumably have been told by the lawyers that he can't comment on it in case he contradicts it and shows it up as a pack of lies .

 

[Pickman's model]

If that was effectively Cummings' witness statement, Johnson will presumably have been told by the lawyers that he can't comment on it in case he contradicts it and shows it up as a pack of lies .

They have learned from the case of that unfortunate woman in iran

 

[DaveCinzano]

Im more amazed Gove is still doing TV interviews - as - as he’s proved, he’s got nothing to say.

Lest we forget...

 

[DaveCinzano]

If they seem terrible now, believe me, as someone who watched them at the time, they were shit then too

 

[Marty1]

Hearing some defenders of Cummings say that the only reason he’s been targeted for this media outrage is because he’s ‘the architect of Brexit’.

Something about Stephen Kinnock delivering a birthday cake to his dad not getting a peep out of Emily Maitlis.

 

[B.I.G]

Hearing some defenders of Cummings say that the only reason he’s been targeted for this media outrage is because he’s ‘the architect of Brexit’.

Something about Stephen Kinnock delivering a birthday cake to his dad not getting a peep out of Emily Maitlis.

Famously stupid nazi.

 

[xenon]

Someone I know with detailed knowledge of the street and area in question tells me that DC has an aide who lives a couple of streets away from him and his brother-in-law very slightly beyond that. In addition the street has a very strong sense of community, I'm told, so the decision not to seek help available locally seems increasingly perverse

they probably all think he is an unbearable arsehole.

 

[Serge Forward]

Hearing some defenders of Cummings say that the only reason he’s been targeted for this media outrage is because he’s ‘the architect of Brexit’.

Something about Stephen Kinnock delivering a birthday cake to his dad not getting a peep out of Emily Maitlis.

Still here, you cunt?